Father’s Day

June 17, 2007

How did you celebrate last Father’s Day? Did you treat your dad a meal at a Chinese restaurant? Before having dim sum with their fathers, brothers and sisters brought them to church to meet with our heavenly father. Praise God for so many fathers joining our Sunday Service.

After a rejoicing praise and worship, there was a slide show of great fathers in our church. It is lovely to see how much their children resemble them. Then brothers and sisters from the youth group sang a song to appreciate all the fathers. We gave the fathers a small torch which symbolizes that father lights up our lives.

Brother Yong testified how his father accepted Christ after a long period of prayer. When Brother Yong was still a child, his father went bankrupt because of being cheated by his business partner. Although his family was in a tremendous financial crisis, his father still made every effort to send him to a good Christian school where he received Christ. Though being persecuted, Brother Yong still served God and continued to pray for the salvation of his family. Thank God that his siblings believed Jesus one by one. The chance to spread the Gospel to his father came when his father got Parkinson’s disease. A sister from the church shared the love of Christ to his father, and eventually he accepted Jesus. It was twelve years after Brother Yong’s conversion. Now, at the age of 68, his father is still serving God as a shepherd and insists to go to church though he cannot walk very well. Thank God for such an encouraging testimony. Let us continue to pray for the salvation of our family. God is faithful and He will answer our prayers.

Pastor Gavin preached about the wonderful traits of godly father from 1Thessalonians 2:8-12. The first trait is the ability to express genuine love. Genuine love is expressed in actions. The second trait is a transparent life. Christian dads should live out God’s values as an example for our children. The third trait is an unselfish diligence. Parents should teach a good work ethic to our children by example. The fourth trait is genuine spirituality. As spiritual leaders in the family, the fathers should be genuine with their faith in God. The fifth trait is positive influence. Fathers should encourage their children to live lives worthy of God.

After the service, brothers, sisters and friends went to a Chinese restaurant together. Our lunch was filled with laughter, sharing and flashes!